Yesterday, the prosecution and defense gave their closing statements in the trial of Dharun Ravi, the former Rutgers University student charged with multiple counts of invasion of privacy, bias intimidation and hindering apprehension, stemming from the suicide of roommate Tyler Clementi. While prosecutor Julia McClure emphasized Ravi's apparent bias towards gays, defense attorney Steven Altman painted a starkly different picture of his client.

In September 2010, Ravi had set up a webcam in the dorm room he shared with roommate Tyler Clementi and and viewed Clementi and Clementi's guest during intimate encounters, sometimes sharing a link to view the livestream via Twitter. Clementi killed himself by jumping off the George Washington Bridge the day after the third time he was filmed. According to the Star-Ledger, Altman told the 15-person jury (12 will decide the case; three are alternates), "An 18-year-old boy, a kid, a college freshman had an experience, had an encounter that he wasn't ready for, that he didn't expect, that he was surprised by. And he didn't know how to deal with it because he was a kid."

Also, Altman worked hard to remind the jury that Clementi's guest was "scruffy" and that Ravi was monitoring his belongings, pointing out that Clementi and his guest—who met online— had never met physically before their first meeting in Clementi and Ravi's dorm room, "Who wouldn't be curious, who wouldn't be wondering, who wouldn't be concerned? It's your room and all of a sudden ... somebody comes in looking scruffy and homeless-looking and suspicious-looking."

In her closing, prosecutor McClure pointed out that Clementi had viewed Ravi's Twitter account, which publicly mentioned how his roommate was "making out with a dude." She said, "Three weeks into his college experience and [Clementi] finds out that his sexual orientation has been broadcast to the defendant's twitter followers. He find out that his private sexual activity has been exposed What do you think he's thinking? If [Ravi's friend] Molly saw it, did Cassie see it? Did other people on that hallway see it? You don't think he was intimidated by learning that information?"

Ravi faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of all charges.